Khepra Khem from the Evangelistic Church leads the crowd in singing a Negro spiritual that was frequently sung by marchers in the 1960s civil rights movement. Khem and others were gathered in front of the Freedom Center at one of several events in the Oklahoma City area that allowed local residents to observe the national holiday honoring slain civil rights leader, Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, At left is Orlando Fowlkes. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman

A half a block away, Tiwanda Hamilton, of Edmond, was surrounded by her three children during Oklahoma City's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade.

The grandmother and the mother attended the parade for the same reasons.

Each wanted to show respect for the civil rights leader. But Cooper and Hamilton also wanted the younger generations to be aware of a Martin Luther King Jr. whose influence carries well beyond a few pages in a textbook. They want them to understand what he accomplished, but also that his dream isn't complete.

“This generation doesn't understand how he fought, how we couldn't eat in certain places, how we couldn't go different places because of our race,” Cooper said.

On Monday, Joyce Henderson was near the start of the parade that worked its way from Broadway and NW 7 to Bricktown. She remembers being a teen at another gathering, one she doesn't ever want to forget.

A meaningful day

Henderson, of Oklahoma City, was a 16-year-old situated somewhere in the masses of the March on Washington. The soon-to-be senior at Dunjee High School heard the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. present his “I Have a Dream” speech that day — Aug. 28, 1963.

That, in part, is why Monday's parade, attended by thousands, was so meaningful to Henderson.

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by Bryan Painter

Assistant Local Editor

Bryan Painter, assistant local editor, has 31 years’ experience in journalism, including 22 years with the state's largest newspaper, The Oklahoman. In that time he has covered such events as the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah...